1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to an apparatus for entertaining animals, and in particular, domesticated animals such as cats.
2. Background Information
In general, Americans love pets, and especially cats. The American Pet Products Manufacturer's Association's (“APPMA”) 2007/2008 Pet Owner's Survey indicates that over 88 million cats are owned in the United States alone. Moreover, Americans splurge on their cats. The same APPMA survey indicates that cat owners spend a yearly average of $26.00 on toys for their cat(s). Accordingly, an entire industry furnishes cats with toys and accessories. These toys and accessories span from luxurious (rhinestone tiaras for feline divas) to silly (dress your pet to impress with a teeny tiny Fez hat) to the simply bizarre (the Kitten Mitten™).
One subset of the toy and accessory market is aimed at toys for entertaining cats with an otherwise boring, sedentary lifestyle, or kittens that are on the prowl for a good time. Such toys include catnip toys, interactive toys, scratching posts, and soft plush toys. All of these toys, however, suffer from a number of drawbacks. One specific drawback of known toys is the problem of keeping a cat, and to an even greater degree a fun-hungry kitten, entertained for an extended period of time. That is, many conventional cat toys are simply boring to cats and kittens. Another drawback of known toys is that they can be complicated, high technology toys that require break or require batteries or another type of power supply in order to function. One such toy is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,892,675.